This summer, characterized by town hall meetings and culminating in the so-called "Taxpayer's Tea Party," was a showcase of American freedom. Even National Socialist Worker's Party member B. Hussein Obama (who is unique among Muslims in having a controversial Church of Christ pastor), the all-powerful Big Brother and black U.S. president from Indonesia and/or Kenya, with his arsenal of confiscated personal firearms, couldn't stop 70,000 (according to the liberal media) to 1.5 million (according to unbiased event organizers) conservatives from marching on Capitol Hill.
That said, take one look at America today and it should be no surprise to anyone that the first amendment made to the Constitution dealt with the right to speak, pray, print and protest freely. With few exceptions (see McCarthyism), the rights of an individual to believe, think and speak without fear of persecution in the U.S. have been intact for 218 years, since the ratification of the Bill of Rights in 1791.
The Taxpayers Tea Party was a testament to that fact. One tea party organizer, radio personality Mark Williams, described the event as a "celebration of America and our rights." He is correct, but so too is a broken clock twice a day. Protesting the government is a right that we as Americans tend to take for granted - and rightly so, because it is a constitutionally granted right.
But where Williams and his fellow protesters become tiresome is the point at which reality is left behind for ease. Specifically, the departure point at which the past is forgotten, hypocrisy is ignored, name-calling is the norm and facts are cast aside for theoretical convenience.
Remembering to avoid hypocrisy, note that liberals were guilty of some of this during the Bush-Era war protests. Names were tossed at Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld faster than you could say War on Terror and Democrats who voted to invade Iraq were quick to forget their role in putting us there. However the current lack of civility in Washington is literally unprecedented.
On his blog, Williams called President Obama an "Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug," a position he defended ("He's certainly acting like one!") in an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper. Protesters at stops along the Tea Party Express and in Washington D.C. bore offensive and outrageous signs making claims that Bush-speechwriter David Frum called "wild accusations and paranoid fantasies." These included but were by no means limited to ones calling Obama a Nazi, likening him to Stalin, Hitler or Pol Pot, with others depicting him as a witchdoctor or stating that Obama's plan for America is "white slavery."
Then of course there is Joe Wilson's outburst just days before the march on Capitol Hill. Wilson's outburst during Obama's speech highlights two key points: first is the basic lack of respect for the office of the presidency and second is the basic lack of respect for the facts.
On the issue of respect, Wilson's unprecedented outburst during Obama's health care speech was unfortunate at best. Wilson not only insulted and interrupted Barack Obama while disrupting his fellow members of Congress, but he crossed an observed line of respect for the Presidency of the United States.
Secondly and more importantly, the Wilson incident shows us how quickly we ignore the facts to satisfy emotions. In the firestorm over the "You lie!" outburst, there has been very little discussion over the falsity of Wilson's claim. The House bill does in fact specifically prohibit health care subsidies to illegal residents. A fair argument to be made by conservatives might be had on the issue of enforcement of that provision, but the truth remains that Obama was truthful when he stated, "the reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally." No Mr. Wilson, you lie!
The Wilson incident highlights a nonsensical mindset that is growing at an alarming rate in America: a mindset in which the debate is not conservative vs. liberal or Right vs. Left, but rather Right vs. wrong. The Right is never wrong according to this inflated pun (a sentiment reflected in the biased titles of this very column: "Being Right" and "What's Left"). But worse, the assumption occurs so quickly that protestors move past debate and into ad hominem attacks and low emotional appeals.
Even moderate conservatives at the Taxpayer's Tea Party, who are quick to write off the seemingly fringe extremists with the offensive signs and the dirty tactics, are guilty of using these same tactics. One point of contention in the overspending big government debate is Obama's "creation and appointment" of czars. Conservatives and some liberals attempting to score political points maintain that the czars are a waste of tax dollars and are uniquely indicative of Obama's attempts to circulate checks and balances. Yet this stance ignores the fact that czars have been in every administration since FDR's and that Obama boasts only one more czar than Bush had.
Debate and discourse are essential components of a healthy democracy. In America, constitutional protections are designed to protect that discourse. As the current political minority, conservatives have not only the right but also the obligation to question and debate liberal policy. But they also have the obligation to do so fairly and intelligently. Republican energy and activism such as the Taxpayer's Tea Party, while inconvenient to the Left, are not nearly as frightening as the collapse of civility and respect that has come along with them. Maybe that's the point.
Contact James at jbourne@colgate.edu.
